If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hasn't secured 60 votes by midnight Saturday, he won't be able to meet the ambitious deadline of passing a health care bill on Christmas Eve.The reason is that in order to trigger the chain of events leading to a Christmas Eve vote, Reid would have to file cloture on his "manager's amendment" -- containing all of his final negotiated changes to the bill -- by the end of tomorrow.

Once Reid files that amendment, it will set up the key cloture vote on Monday at 1 a.m., requiring the support of 60 Senators to pass.While that would technically give him all of Sunday to win over Sen. Ben Nelson or any remaining holdouts, Reid would not be able to make any further changes to the bill in order to accommodate any Senator.

While a lot of people are focusing on Christmas Eve, the key vote will be that first cloture vote on Monday. snipSo, while it sounds dramatic, the future of the nation's health care system may be decided in the next 34 hours.

http://spectator.org/blog/2009/12/18/reid-must-get-60-votes-by-midn

coach

12-18-2009, 04:05 PM

thx for the heads up !

AmPat

12-18-2009, 06:07 PM

Can anyone explain to me why nobody is asking these DUmmyRATS questions about this? Where is the media asking these turds pertinent questions? It seems to me we all take it as a matter of fact (much like the global warming crap)that we need any of this. Here are a few questions I'd like asked-answered regarding health scare, crap and tax, illegal immigrant coddling, Big business bailout and other such liberal madness.
1. What are your objectives/goals?
2. Have you clearly defined the problem?
3. What is the cost to benefit ratio?
4. Does this legislation meet or is it likely to meet the desired goals?
5. What is the real cost to the taxpayer?
6. How do you fund this?
7. What is the hurry?
8. Why all the secrecy?
9. Do your constituents want this?
10. Is this good for the country?
11. Is this Constitutionally legitimate?
12 HAVE YOU READ THE BILL?

Eagle

12-18-2009, 06:29 PM

Can anyone explain to me why nobody is asking these DUmmyRATS questions about this? Where is the media asking these turds pertinent questions? It seems to me we all take it as a matter of fact (much like the global warming crap)that we need any of this. Here are a few questions I'd like asked-answered regarding health scare, crap and tax, illegal immigrant coddling, Big business bailout and other such liberal madness.
1. What are your objectives/goals?
2. Have you clearly defined the problem?
3. What is the cost to benefit ratio?
4. Does this legislation meet or is it likely to meet the desired goals?
5. What is the real cost to the taxpayer?
6. How do you fund this?
7. What is the hurry?
8. Why all the secrecy?
9. Do your constituents want this?
10. Is this good for the country?
11. Is this Constitutionally legitimate?
12 HAVE YOU READ THE BILL?

Just sticking with #12 which should answer the rest is a resoundung NO..They have not read the bill and are just beginning to focus on the upcomming 2010 elections.

Apocalypse

12-18-2009, 09:17 PM

Love this. Lieberman is out of town during a crucial vote and won't be back soon.

Already, they’ve wheeled in the cots for members and staff who choose to slumber party the night away in the Capitol, or Senate offices. But tomorrow, bright and early, all of them could need to be on hand for procedural reasons. For instance, Democrats expect to have to waive a budget point of order they expect Republicans to raise against the defense appropriations bill. That requires 60 votes…

“After being assured by Democratic and Republican leaders that his vote was not needed to pass the Defense Appropriations bill, Senator Lieberman went to Connecticut to spend the Sabbath and the last night of Hanukkah with his wife, Hadassah, and their children and grandchildren,” reads a statement to TPMDC from Lieberman’s spokesman Marshall Wittmann.

That means Democrats will be relying on at least one Republican to help them get the defense bill over a procedural bump in order to push them back on to health care. They’re crossing their fingers.

megimoo

12-18-2009, 11:24 PM

Love this. Lieberman is out of town during a crucial vote and won't be back soon.

What do they do when a member of the Senate is not available to vote when sixty votes are required ?If a Senator were against a bill and didn't wish to have his name listed as opposing a it why not just disappear for the day ?

Or do they have some sort of 'proxy' system to record a vote in the absence of a Senator ?

Apocalypse

12-18-2009, 11:37 PM

What do they do when a member of the Senate is not available to vote when sixty votes are required ?If a Senator were against a bill and didn't wish to have his name listed as opposing a it why not just disappear for the day ?

Or do they have some sort of 'proxy' system to record a vote in the absence of a Senator ?
I would assume if said Sen. didn't vote before leaving, then it becomes NV. They need 60 yea's to pass ether way. And coming in 59 doesn't cut it. If the GOP unites for a solid no, and Lieberman didn't give a vote before leaving, they don't have enough and it stalls.

lacarnut

12-19-2009, 12:14 AM

What do they do when a member of the Senate is not available to vote when sixty votes are required ?If a Senator were against a bill and didn't wish to have his name listed as opposing a it why not just disappear for the day ?

Or do they have some sort of 'proxy' system to record a vote in the absence of a Senator ?

I am unsure how that would work. However, I think a congress critter has to get permission to miss a vote. Kinda like an excuse from the head knocker. Looks like you have to be present to vote because they wheeled the KKK kid into the Senate chambers after an illness.